Corners
by wheresmyluce
Summary: After Season 2 ep 2 Automatic For the People , Sarah has a breakdown. Then she and Cameron have a breakthrough. Femslash. One shot. Complete. Prequel to the TSCC/Fringe Crossover "9 Crimes" by Comicbooklovergreen.


Takes place after the events of season 2 episode 2 (Automatic for the People). This is a standalone completely unrelated to The Sarah Cameron Chronicles and/or Tortured Soul.

Inspired by lots of late night conversations and a kick asssome new Fringe & TSCC crossover fic called "9 Crimes" written by Comicbooklovergreen featuring Olivia Dunham and Sarah Connor. Please read and enjoy :)

Pilfering Pirate alert. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. No beta. Grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors happen. Also I generally write first person fics so this is something new I'm trying. If you're kind enough to comment please let me know which format you like better.

Rated T for language, a heavy dose of angst, and some femslash.

* * *

"You're clean." Cameron informed Sarah after checking her over with a radiation detector. Cameron's detached. She showed as much emotion as a chalkboard.

Emotions were tattooed on Sarah's face. Fear. Hurt. Anxiety. Sadness. Grief. A brief sense of relief after hearing Cameron say she's clean. Then the doubt again.

"When we jumped through time you told me I died of cancer." Sarah did her level best not to cry.

"Yes. 2005." Matter of fact.

"Am I still going to get sick?"

"I don't know."

Sarah swallowed. Tears glistened. "Is today how it happens?"

"I don't know." Cameron started for the stairs. She knew Sarah was full of questions she had no answers for.

"What am I supposed to do?" Sarah asked helplessly. "Just wait?"

Cameron turned back. Something, possibly the faintest hint of a feeling, fluttered across her normally stoic face.

"Like a time bomb. Am I just going to go off some day?"

"I don't know," Cameron answered truthfully, "am I?"

Sarah didn't know the answer to that any more than Cameron had. She blinked twice and watched powerlessly as Cameron retreated up the stairs.

* * *

Hours after having found the wall filled with the mysterious scrawl of the now deceased Resistance Member's blood Sarah stood in the shower. She soaped and scrubbed every inch of herself thoroughly. The water had been near scalding when she'd first stepped in. Then her thoughts had wandered while the water continued to beat her.

Cameron listened as Sarah had entered the shower. She couldn't decide who showered more often. Derek or Sarah. Neither one of them could ever seem to get clean enough.

Derek left soon after. Cameron smirked when the door had slammed behind him. She didn't know why. It was kind of like when she and Sarah had been in the bar during the mission and she had played pool against the security people. She'd used her feminine charms to entice them and then taken them for every dollar in their pockets. She'd smiled proudly as she counted the money.

Since when was she proud? Was it the shrapnel to the coltan skull? No, if she were being truthful and when reasoning with herself she found no reason not to be truthful then she had to admit she'd been having fleeting glimpses of humanistic traits for a while now. It was no longer just a mission to protect John and Sarah. There was more, so much more.

John's footsteps echoed on the stairs before he too left without word. Cameron didn't smile then. She was worried. Worried? Yes, that was the right word. She felt uneasy about him leaving without telling his mother or her where he was going or what he was doing. She could have gone after him, but Sarah worried her too.

Eighty-seven minutes had passed since Sarah had stepped into the shower. Even on the rare occasions when Sarah indulged herself in a bath she didn't stay in the tub longer than twenty minutes. The possibility of danger seemed more eminent for Sarah so Cameron stayed with her.

Cameron's knock jarred Sarah from her silent reverie. She came back to the present and immediately felt the chill of the icy water raining down on her naked flesh. Her teeth chattered. She could barely move. Her fingers were too numb to even grip the handles.

After thirty-eight seconds of deliberation, when the water did not turn off and Sarah failed to answer her, Cameron steeled herself, which shouldn't be hard for a girl composed of coltan to do. However when faced with the idea of confronting Sarah's wrath it gave her cause to pause. Then she opened the door. She took in Sarah's shivers and lack of movement and correctly diagnosed moderate hypothermia and mild shock. She immediately turned the water off. She pulled some towels from the rack and wrapped Sarah in one. When Sarah didn't resist she lifted her from the tub and carried her to her bedroom.

Sarah's green eyes were about the only thing she still had control over. She watched with a mixture of embarrassment and horror as Cameron used a towel to dry her skin and another to wrap her hair in. Cameron then laid her gently in the bed and drew the covers up to her chin.

The shivers should have stopped. Sarah's motor coordination should have returned. Cameron knew something had to be done quickly. She removed her own clothes down to her purple, lacy bra and hot pink panties and climbed into bed next to Sarah. She drew Sarah close until she was spooning the still trembling woman. She made sure to press her warm body as tightly as she could against Sarah.

Sarah was horrified. A virtually naked Cameron was holding her. No, not just holding her but hugging and snuggling her. It was wrong on so many different levels it made her head spin.

"C-c-c-cameron," Sarah sputtered. She had so much more to say but couldn't get her mouth or tongue to cooperate. She lacked the coordination and muscle control to pull herself away.

"Save your strength. Rest."

Adding insult to injury, Sarah was overcome with exhaustion and passed out almost as soon as Cameron whispered the words against her ear. Cameron stayed long enough to ensure Sarah's core temperature was within the normal range, her breathing was regular and her heart rate maintained a healthy, steady rhythm. She would have stayed longer but sensed Sarah would awaken soon. She thought it best to give the woman at least some modicum of privacy.

* * *

A scream died on Sarah's lips and her eyes flew open. She sat up fast, too fast. The room spun. Her stomach lurched. She clutched a shaky hand to her chest. "Fuck," she whispered as the glimpses of the nightmare replayed themselves. Her, inside a coffin. Pounding for release as the casket slowly lowered into a gaping whole crawling with earthworms and hissing cockroaches. John stood above in tattered clothes. He was bloodied and barely able to stand. His eyes haunted as his mother's coffin gradually sunk below the surface. Cameron knelt in the shadows. She held a sniper rifle aimed at John. A maniacal grin taking up half of her face. Her lips spread until the skin split and her endo-skull came shining through.

Sarah shook her head to clear the painful images. She sucked in a few ragged breaths. Real life memories crept in. The scalding shower, the sudden, deep chills, Cameron in the bathroom, carrying her, drying her, cuddling her. "Fuck." she muttered again. "No way. That did not-" she lifted the covers and gazed at her own naked form. Then pulled the still damp towel from her hair. "Fuck."

Her head thudded back against the headboard. It just added to all the other aches and pains caused by the jump from a second floor window and the two back to back car wrecks, well three if you counted when she crashed her truck into John's in order to crush Cameron. There'd also been the fight with Cameron. It had been completely one sided so Sarah wasn't sure if she could even call it a fight. She'd been tossed around like a rag doll and then stepped on like a defenseless bug. Still, that was better than the thought of being in bed with the terminator.

"She had no right. No. Fucking. Right." she said aloud and pulled on a pair of faded jeans. She reached for a tank top and thought better of it. She'd already exposed more than enough to the tin miss. She selected a long sleeveHenleyinstead. Boots and a jacket came next. Then the normally reassuring weight of the Glock pressed against the small of her back. Despite the weapon and her shield of clothes the feeling of vulnerability remained. It killed her.

Stupid machines, she thought. No matter how much she'd trained, how many weapons she was proficient with. If she replaced her leather and boots with Chainmail she was still no match for the damn machines.

The anger built steadily until it rolled off her in waves. She went through the house finding not a single soul around, getting more pissed with each empty room she came across. Every cross and close encounter she'd had with Cameron, Cromartie, Uncle Bob before he became Mr. Nice Guy, and the T1000 raced through her troubled mind until she found Cameron patrolling near the detached garage.

"Are you feeling better?"

Sarah went straight at her. Backing her inside the garage. "Don't you ever touch me again."

"You were cold, Sarah. Shared body heat is the fastest way to raise a person's core temperature."

"Don't you ever fucking touch me again. Tell me you understand. Tell me you won't. Not under any circumstances."

Cameron remained silent. She couldn't make that promise. She had specific mission guidelines when it came Sarah.

"Answer me you stupid metal bitch."

"You are behaving irrationally again. I cannot talk to you when you are like this." She started to go past her.

Sarah grabbed her arm and shoved her against the wall. Cameron didn't have to move. She could have remained firmly rooted and allowed Sarah to possibly damage herself, but damaging Sarah went against the mission. She relented and let Sarah push her around.

"Don't you dare say I'm irrational." Sarah shoved her again. "I'll toss your ass in a thermite bath and it's hasta la vista baby."

"You wouldn't. John would be furious."

"He'd get over it." Sarah scoffed. "We made it without you before. We can do it again."

"You need me. We still have more missions to complete."

"What do you mean? What missions?"

Cameron shrugged. "I cannot say." She once more attempted to walk away from Sarah. Sarah's blood pressure rose. She practically panted. Adrenalin pumped through her veins and set her body aflame.

"Bullshit." Sarah grabbed her again. "You can't hold things back because I don't ask the right fucking questions. I'm sick of your games. You tell me everything you know about the future, why you were sent here, the missions, every last one of 'em, and-"

"No," Cameron cut her off. She used the exact amount of strength required to get Sarah to release her. Then advanced slowly until Sarah was backed into a corner.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Get away from me."

"No." Cameron stated again. "I am not your punching bag, Sarah. Yours is right over there. If you have a problem you take it out on that. Not me."

"Go to hell."

"I already have. That's what life after J Day is. I hope you never have to see it."

"Machines don't know anything about hope."

"This one does." Cameron smirked. "I know a great deal more than you think. I only have your best interests at heart."

"Tin Miss you don't have a fucking heart."

"Sometimes I have more of a heart than you do."

Sarah recoiled as though she'd been struck. That remark was cutting. Then she remembered the Glock in her waistband. She reached for it only to find Cameron's fingers wrapped snugly but not painfully around her wrist. Cameron didn't release her. When Sarah brought her other hand up Cameron grabbed that hand too. She carefully applied the right amount of force to bring Sarah's hand to her side. She held the woman completely immobile and kept their gazes locked.

They were nose to nose, virtually the same height, and standing so close they shared the same breath. "I do not want to hurt you, Sarah."

"Then let me go. I sure as hell want to hurt you."

Tears shone in Sarah's eyes. It was just like the day Cameron had done what Sarah could not and shot Enrique for betraying them. Cameron observed her already high pulse rate steadily climb. Her face reddened and breathing became irregular. Everything she did or said only angered the woman more. Cameron was exasperated. She needed a distraction, a way to channel Sarah's rage into a more positive outlet.

"If you really want to hurt me why did you charge into a restricted radioactive area to save me? Greenway's replicate was about to defeat me. I could have been destroyed and out of your life forever. But you raced in, machine gun blazing, and took on a machine knowing full well you faced contamination and destruction at the hands of a terminator.

It's not the first time you've placed yourself in jeopardy to protect me. The very first time we met when Cromartie was smashing me to bits you distracted him with shotgun blasts long enough for me to get the advantage. Then the time you crashed a motorcycle into a Triple 8 and -"

"Enough." Sarah cut in.

"You care about me."

"You're a tool, Cameron. An expensive, irreplaceable tool that can protect John. Nothing more. "

Cameron felt the fluctuation in Sarah's pulse rate as she held her wrist. She noticed the other woman break eye contact in an effort to hide her deception. "What about after John removed my chip. You stayed in the room. On the very same bed with me."

Sarah's eyes widened. A mixture of shock and fear stamped on her face. "How the fuck do you know that? Your chip was gone."

"After Derek invaded my room to find Vick's chip I installed surveillance cameras so I would always know if the security of my room had been breeched. I've watched the footage several times. You look so lost as you sit beside me. Then you reach over and take my hand. You stayed with me, holding my hand the whole time Derek and John were gone. I don't know why you would do that if you didn't care."

Sarah watched as Cameron tilted her head like she often did when she was considering something. She pressed herself more firmly into the corner. She needed to put some distance between them. Cameron had the truth on her side. Sarah could deny nothing. The intrusion on her personal space and her head space was making her extremely uncomfortable for many reasons. Some of those reasons threatened to push her off the edge of the sane world.

Pushing herself more deeply into the corner only succeeded in trapping Cameron's arm behind her and drawing their bodies closer together. Cameron brought Sarah's other arm behind her and held them both with one hand. With her free hand she reached up to cup Sarah's cheek. Her lips came forward next. They Brushed softly against Sarah's.

Sarah was too shocked to react. She stood perfectly still. Absently she wondered if Cameron's behavior was another glitch caused by the jeep explosion. Cameron's lips were soft and pliant. There was none of the metallic taste Sarah thought there might be. If she tried to push Cameron away it might further disturb the glitch in her chip. No matter how awkward and off putting it was she decided against provoking her.

Cameron took Sarah's lack of protest as a sign her observations during the past year had been correct. Sarah Wanted Cameron as much as she wanted her. She moved her hand deeper into Sarah's messy, soft hair and put a little more purpose and intent behind her kisses.

By the time Sarah realized her mistake it was too late. By not pushing Cameron or finding a way to tell her to stop she'd given her tacit approval. She was forced to admit the kiss wasn't all together horrid. In fact, it was actually an intriguing mix of sweet hesitance and desire. It left Sarah wanting more.

Cameron's lips parted. Her tongued flicked out to meet Sarah's lips. She tasted something forbidden and enticing. Sarah's low moan spurred her on further. She eased forward until their breasts were touching. Her knee raised, gently prodding until Sarah's thighs gradually parted.

Sarah felt Cameron release her hands. She should have been grateful to be free. She wasn't. When Cameron was holding her in place she had no other option. She had to do what Cameron wanted. Freedom allowed for choice. Choice led to guilt and consequences.

Cameron took a step backward. Her round doe eyes unflinching as she met what she imagined would be Sarah's angry jade gaze. "Do you still want to hurt me?"

"No." Sarah surprised even herself when she reached for the lapels of Cameron's leather jacket and filled up the space between them. She returned Cameron's sweet, unsure, inquisitive kiss with one that left no room for doubt. She guided Cameron, reversed their positions until the cyborg was pressed into the corner.

Sometimes being backed into the corner wasn't such a bad thing.

* * *

"Be kind to me.

Or treat me mean.

I'll make the most of it.

I'm an extraordinary machine."

Sung by Fiona Apple (probably after Cameron time traveled to whisper the lyrics in her ear. LOL)


End file.
